Fishing is a popular activity frequently enjoyed on the water in watercraft of some form. The types of watercraft used for fishing is diverse and includes stand-up paddle boards, sea kayaks, canoes, and, of course, traditional open hulled motorized vessels of all sizes. Anglers who prefer to fish from watercraft have employed a variety of ways to secure their fishing rods while traveling from point to point or while fishing thereby freeing up hands to perform other tasks. For example, rod holders have been used in such a manner for many years and, depending on the vessel's design, there are many structures, surfaces, and other features that may serve as potential mounting locations for rod holders. Vertical and horizontal rails, flat surfaces such as decks and gunwales, and mounting tracks arranged on the decks are all possible mounting locations for rod holders.
As mentioned above, rod holders are known in the art a few of which are manually adjustable. However, commercially available rod holders are not easily, conveniently, or efficiently adjusted. For example, they typically require two hands to operate and lock in position as the user to manually hold the rod holder at the desired angle with the one hand and simultaneously manipulate tensioning thumb screws or the like with the other. Some rod holders are adjustable about either the horizontal (the angle of the rod holder with respect to the horizontal plane) or vertical axes (certain degree of rotation about the vertical axis to alter the direction in which the rod holder and thus the rod is pointed) but not both. For the rod holders that are adjustable about the horizontal and vertical axes, the dual adjustments must be made independently and incrementally as opposed to a substantially synchronous single handed operation. Moreover, known commercially available rod holders are not equipped with multiple tension settings allowing the user to substantially lock the holder at a desired angle with little to no change in orientation in response to strong external forces or allowing for a degree of give or slippage in the positioning when sufficient torque from an external force is applied. Finally, known commercially available rod holders are not easily and conveniently convertible to mounts for other objects requiring stability and adjustability.
Therefore, an adjustable fishing rod holder that allows a user to singlehandedly and synchronously pivot the holder about a horizontal axis to a desired angle and rotate the holder about a vertical axis is desired. Furthermore, an adjustable fishing rod holder that allows a user to secure the holder in a substantially fixed position such that the desired angle is maintained upon application of torque and/or set the holder to slippage upon application of a certain degree of torque is also desired. Moreover, a rod holder that is capable of being mounted on a variety of features, surfaces, and structures on a watercraft is desired. Also, a rod holder that is easily and conveniently convertible to another mount for other objects requiring stability and adjustability is desired.